2006-03-08

Good News on Gaming

At the Bonner home in Haddon Township, Mom, Dad and their five children, age 1, 7, 10, 11 and 13, crowd the backroom PlayStation 2 on a Friday night. It's Karaoke Revolution Party time! As each belts a tune ("Pieces of Me," for one) into a mike, an on-screen audience reacts to the performance. Louder cheers equal more points.Kyle Bonner, 13, won until his voice began to change. Now Danielle Bonner, 33, his stepmother, rules. His father, Jerry Bonner, 34, usually crashes within minutes. Kaela, Alexa and Steve DeJesus, his step-siblings, vie for second. And toddler Bridget Bonner, his half-sister, drools on the mike and bounces to the music. "It's a big part of our lives," said Jerry Bonner, a sleep-clinic technologist. As a toddler, Kyle would sit in Bonner's lap, "holding a controller and pretending he was playing... . I think any quality time you spend with kids, they'll look back on fondly. It's like pulling out the glove and having a catch, like my dad did."

And from the second:

In-depth research has proven that gaming plays a role in increasing self esteem,and is motivational in many ways. Children who play games perform better atcomprehension, spelling, and math.

Sadly, the research is not cited. I'd really like to read it.

Intergenerational gaming nights, anyone? How about family LAN parties? For more information, ideas, and reviews, check out Game On: Games in Libraries, a blog all about (unsurprisingly) games & libraries; GamerDad.com, a site devoted to parents & other role models gaming with the kids in their lives; and Steven Everything Bad Is Good For You Johnson's blog, where he talks quite a bit about the sunnier, brain-improving side of gaming.

1 Comments:

Hey, this scenario sounded familiar to me...only it happened about 15-20 years ago when my kids were young.

I'm a librarian and a gamer. I was one of those cool parents who not only made sure that they had access to games, but played with them. They learned critical thinking skills AND we had quality family time.

At the time, I was pretty much an anomaly... I suppose at my age (49)I still am. But now that kids are coming into the library playing Runescape, I understand the attraction and can relate to them and explain the game to my co-workers, many of whom just don't "get it". The world of communication and learning is changing and gaming is helping to pave the way.

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